STTR Phase I: Biologically Inspired Polymer Fiber Adhesives as Enhanced Gripping Materials

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。这个小型企业技术转移第一阶段项目建议将生物启发的聚合物纤维粘合剂作为新型抓握材料，用于超级抓握运动手套和其他潜在的抓握和可重复使用的粘合剂应用。壁虎和昆虫有抓人的能力，即使在污染和潮湿的情况下，也能利用脚上数百万微米和纳米级的纤维，在变化很大的表面上附着数千次，而不会发生明显的降解。今天的可重复粘合剂在这些条件下很快就会结垢，这导致使用寿命有限，并限制了它们的使用场景。在这项研究中，将开发模型来了解纤维粘合剂的相互作用机理，并将设计和演示基于生物启发的聚合物纤维的握持材料，以用于运动手套应用。这项研究的更广泛的影响是使用这些生物启发的握持和粘合材料生产广泛的潜在商业产品，并提高对特定应用的纤维粘合剂设计的技术理解。不留残留物的可重复胶粘剂具有非常广阔的市场和商业潜力。特别是，作为一个高级目标，如果实现对皮肤组织的粘连，这项技术将在医疗行业产生强大的影响。在短期内，这些粘合剂将被集成到运动手套中，以增强足球表面的抓地力。从该项目中获得的科学和技术理解将改进纤维粘合剂的设计，并确定为特定应用场景设计粘合剂所面临的挑战。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project proposes biologically inspired polymer fibrillar adhesives as new gripping materials for ultragrip sports glove and other potential gripping and repeatable adhesive applications. Geckos and insects have the gripping ability to attach thousands of times to widely varying surfaces without significant degradation, even in the presence of contamination and moisture, using millions of micro and nanoscale fibers on their feet. Today's repeatable adhesives foul quickly under these conditions, which leads to limited lifetime and constrains the scenarios in which they can be used. In this study, models will be developed to understand the interaction mechanics of fibrillar adhesives, and gripping materials based on bioinspired polymer fibers optimized for sports glove applications will be designed and demonstrated.The broader impacts of this research are the production of wide range of potential commercial products using these bioinspired gripping and adhesive materials and improved technical understanding on design of fibrillar adhesives for specific applications. Repeatable adhesives that leave no residue have a very broad market and commercial potential. In particular, as an advanced goal, if adhesion to skin tissues is achieved, this technology would have a strong impact in the medical industry. In the near term, these adhesives will be integrated into sports gloves to provide increased grip to a football surface. The scientific and technical understanding gained from thisproject will improve the design of fibrillar adhesives, and identify challenges for designing adhesives for specific application scenarios.